Worlds Apart

Chapter 39

T H U N D E R

Day 54

The town would be cosy if Elin ignored the garish yellow symbols spray painted on virtually every surface—above the door to each house, each boundary wall, each plaza. It was like they needed to remind people who the land belonged to. And the people did not seem to mind. They followed their rules and rituals with wide, fanatical smiles.

It was unnerving.

The three of them were allowed to stay in one of the empty houses at the edge of town. Daisha appreciated the isolation and lack of distraction, but Elin figured it had more to do with reducing the townspeople's interactions with outsiders.

The house was large with three bedrooms over two floors, two bathrooms, a large kitchen, an open terrace, and a sprawling yard. Elin did not want to think too deeply about why such a beautiful, luxurious house was left uninhabited. The floors were even heated, for God's sake! She found it hard to be grateful when she knew there had to be an ulterior motive for providing this. They could have let them rot in their base in the centre of town, not allowed to see sunlight for days until Daisha uncovered what had happened to their leader. Instead, they had lush gardens, delicate lace curtains, and cloud-like double beds without a speck of dust on them. Through the tall windows was a direct view of the town's border: a hard, unforgiving slab of concrete and barbed wire that ran through the forests surrounding them. A charming, quaint neighbourhood with an underlying sense of dread and dystopia—yes, Elin thought that summed up her experience in Evanos quite nicely.

The cool evening breeze tickled her cheek, stinging the still-healing bruise on her jaw and wrists. The long grass rustled lethargically. Elin closed her eyes, at peace even after what had happened to Naia, but she was disconcertingly unaffected. She had gotten used to death. For the past few months, her life had been nothing but death and loss. It was selfish to be grateful for her survival and Elin...didn't care. It was a new feeling.

She felt worse for being fine while Riona wasn't. The poor girl rarely left her room and skipped most of her meals. Elin tried to get her to eat but she wouldn't, and every time Riona opened the perpetually locked door to her room, the look on her face made Elin's heart wrench. She didn't seem to be sleeping either.

Daisha also skipped meals and sleep but for entirely different reasons. Her eyes were always unfocused, lost in thought as her mind clicked away on solving her new case. Elin guessed she must be relieved to have that familiarity back. She had noticed how ungrounded Daisha had become since Riona came into the picture two months ago. She seemed more purposeful now.

Daisha would return soon, currently in town talking to some members of this group that she'd grown familiar with. They had killed Naia and possibly more innocent people, and she was familiar, even borderline friendly with these people—as friendly as Daisha could get anyway—but Elin did not care about that either. She only cared about getting home to her cousin. To her last remaining family.

Elin twisted the strands of grass between nimble fingers, golden sunlight filtering in at an angle through the trees. Her unease grew, starkly contrasting this tranquil scene.

What about the family she had come to know? Owen and Daisha and the grieving girl inside the house.

Owen was dead but he had forgiven his murderer. Would his mother see it the same way? Did Daisha? Did she? His murderer was ready to do it all over again—her family's murderer. So many families' murderer. Neàl was a psychopath and no one was going to stop them. Since the last time they had met, how many had he killed?

No. She had not forgiven them for stealing such a precious light from her life. Everyone she had ever known...she would never know peace until he faced the consequences for his crimes. Elin was certain Daisha felt the same way.